March 10, 2004 : | ___ Opinion 9 Would you like to be involved in something that is definitely not a Nigerian scam? By Barrister James Udoh I am Barrister James Udoh, a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to Mr Paul Edge a nation- al of your country, who used to work with Shell Development Company in Nigeria. Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On the 21st of April 2001, my client, his wife and their only son were involved in a car accident along sagbama express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortu- nately lost there lives.Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives this has also proved unsuccessful. ; After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you. I have contacted you to assist in repartrating the assets and Capital valued at US$15.5million left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unser- viceable by the Security Finance Firm where this huge deposits were lodged. The said Security Finance Company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confisicated within the next fourteen official working days. Since I have been unsuc- cesfull in locating the relatives for over 2 years, now I seek your con- sent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since you have the same last names,so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary formation and legal documents needed to back you up for claim. All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. I waiting to hear from you soon. Re: Nigerian Scam Reply from Over The Edge We must say that we found your letter to us quite interesting. We are sorry, but we must inform you that no one at our newspaper is related to your client at all. Actually, our newspaper does not take its name from anyone who could possibly be related to your client, since our name was taken from the one entry we received in a contest to choose the name of the student newspaper at _ the University of Northern BC. You did say that you needed to find a person to present as the next of kin to the deceased. Since Over the Edge is an organization, and not a person, itis our opinion that this course of action will be diffi- cult at best. Of course, since we are a small newspaper, and do not have the opportunity to acquire enough funding to operate our paper at the same level as other university newspapers, we would not be adverse to receiving free money. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the contents of your letter seem to be written by you your- self, and seem to be of rather poor quality to have been written by a barrister, we are forced to come to the conclusion that this is a scam. We refer, of course, to the fact that your letter does not contain proper capitalization, misses words in some cases, and contains grammar errors, such as using the word “there” instead of the proper “their”. We submit that most lawyers have secretaries to write this sort of letter, and if this were the case, these errors would not have made it into this email. The fact that this was sent as an-email, rather than as a letter is also sus- pect. It seems to us that you did a Google search, turned up our name, and decided to see if we would fall for your shenanigans. You perceive that we are a univer- sity newspaper, and as such, must have some level of education. As such, it is unlikely that we would fall for such an obvious ploy, and feel that the act of even contem- plating the act of sending us such an email incredibly insulting. We feel that we must ask you to not contact us again, unless you are willing to discuss this subject ina more direct manner, and if you did wish to do so, we would be pleased to answer you with the sharp point of our rapier pressed to your throat. Counselors: Combined childcare/teaching. Must be able to teach or lead one or more of the following activities: gymnastics, tennis, swim, sail, canoe, water ski, arts {including stained glass, sewing, jewelry, wood, photo), dance, music, theatre, archery, wilderness trips, field sports, equestrian. Service Workers: including o; nings for kitchen, laundry, housekeeping, secretaries, maintenance & grounds, and kitchen supervisor. Non-smokers. June 18 to August 25. Attractive salary (US) plus travel allowance. To Apply: Applications and photo gallery are available on our website: www.kippewa.com or contact us at the numbers listed below for a staff brochure. Kippewa, Box 340, Westwood, Massachusetts, 02090-0340, U.S.A. tel: 781-762-8291 | fax: 781-255-7167 - moms: Photo by Salar Motahari Once again, MUGGS put on a hugely successful cribbage tournament. Many students had a great time drinking beer, trading stories and playing cards. Valuing life: Where pro-choice and pro-life should meet By Lisa The Manitoban The pro-choice/ pro-life debate is one that is ongoing and emo- tional. The common denominator between the pro-choice and’ pro- life sides is the value of life. The interpretation of this is where the two views fork dramatically. The debate typically gets stuck around the question of when a life begins. This remains a question of belief, and fails to address more important questions of social and economic context. If the issue here is love of life and not just survival, then the two sides have common goals. End feminized child poverty Based on the number of single mothers living under the poverty line, poverty is clearly a gendered issue, just as it is a race and age issue. So how do we eradicate poverty? We must make child care central to the economy and not peripheral. We lobby for free child care. We must provide more than the two _ predominant options open to poor single working and paying through the nose, or living on a meagre _ welfare cheque. Stepnuk, Eliminating this problem is the only way to achieve a truly equi- table society. Pro-choice is sincerely pro- choice. Just as a woman should not be forced to go through with. an unwanted pregnancy, a woman should not be forced to go through with an abortion because they cannot afford to have a child. Children should not just be for the rich, but should not suffer pover- ty. Neither should their mothers. In fact, no one deserves poverty. We must address the inequalities that cause poverty and suffering. The question of “does a fetus suf- fer?” has been debated and will always be debated. However, the suffering, anxiety, depression, stress and pain of poverty are real and in our face. Charity by itself is not the answer. We must create a society which gives people auton- omy over their own lives. This is the first step. End rape Unwanted pregnancy is a seri- ous consequence of rape. Rape is primarily about power, not sex. Rape is a weapon used to make up for feelings of powerlessness in a society that is based on com- petition. Eliminating social and economic inequality is one neces- sary step in abolishing rape. Asecond step is the elimination of gender stereotypes. They dis- empower both sexes and can leave rapists feeling “less than manly.” Again, this is about power. Gender stereotypes must be eliminated from birth. Do not tolerate “boys will be boys” atti- tudes which makes it acceptable for little boys to chase little girls. It is not cute. It plants the seeds for a social disease. Consent must be taught from a young age. Respect for consent shapes all of our relationships. Abolish the stigma of pregnan- cies out of wedlock Women who face the risk of being disowned by their families are in desperate situations. This translates into dangerous situa- tions. If a woman lacks both a support network and safe, acces- sible abortions, she will be pushed to take drastic measures. This can lead to suicide and (pos- sibly) fatal, self-inflicted abortion. Two horrors directly opposed to life. Additionally, in some work- places, women still lose their jobs due to pregnancy. A reality that their partner in conception does not have to face. The emphasis here is on con- text; context, context. Would it not be more effective and less trauma- tizing to women to provide safe, accessible abortion as an option while addressing these very real issues which lead to very real oppression? Abortion is not going to disappear until poverty, rape and stigmatization are made to disappear. Is this not where we should be focusing our time, ener- gy and money? What is a more effective and compassionate approach to reducing suffering? When we talk about the value of life, whose lives do we mean? Why would the potential life of a fetus have a greater value than the lives of women around us? This is a very complex issue and the points previously out- lined are only some of the reasons why abortion is needed. There are multitudes of reasons why women choose to have an abor- tion which have not been dis- cussed here. I do not know what my choice would be if I were faced with an unwanted pregnan- cy. However, considering that every woman’s situation is differ- “ent, I would never impose my decision on anyone else. No woman should be forced to carry out a pregnancy she feels she should not go through with, whatever her reasons. And of course, let’s not be ahis- torical. The control over women’s sexuality and reproduction has always been used as a mechanism for-social control. It has been an effective weapon in. maintaining power over the lives of both women and their children. We have a lot of work to do.